The high point of the fortnight was the State Opening of Parliament by the Queen, who will be 90 soon, making her the longest serving monarch. At the glittering ceremony, she was accompanied by Prince Philip, Prince Charles and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall. But for us the crucial part of the occasion lay in the Queen’s speech, when the special relationship with India was mentioned, highlighting it as an important government agenda. It has immediately set off speculation about when the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, is scheduled to arrive in London. The Indian diaspora and the British government have been keenly awaiting his arrival. No doubt Wembley stadium is being dusted, and kept ready.
Mr Modi had been wrongly advised not to come, earlier, by some who said that the Labour Party was going to win the elections. But alas for them, it is the Conservative government which will greet the Mr Modi, whenever he does arrive. Remember the prophetic words “Phir ek baar, Cameron sarkar!” And so now, London awaits!
But, largely without controversy, Londoners continue to honour heroes with beautiful statues. The National Portrait Gallery is unveiling a painted bronze statue of Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the pioneer of the World Wide Web. The statue of the great British icon by a young artist, Sean Henry, looks more like a portrait but is in three dimensions. Speaking of great English icons, the Rolls Royce brand could certainly be considered a leading one. And there is good news for collectors! There’s going to be an auction of the Rolls Royce ordered by Prince Ranjitsinh, the legendary batsman, for his tiger shoots. The Phantom II Sedanca De Ville was to be delivered to the Prince — but he died in 1933 before it was ready. Now there will be an auction by H&H Classics, so gather up £100,000 and it can be yours!
This diary can not refrain from mentioning its favourite Prince — the “Gorgeous George”. His father, Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, is a fan of the football club Aston Villa, which was to play in the FA Cup Final last Saturday. When William was asked if he would take George to the game, he replied he would have to ask the “missus”. George did not make it, but just as well because his father’s favourite team lost 0-4. Publicly, William tried to take the blow as stoically as he could, but no doubt George would have got a detailed account of what went wrong, later that night, from his distraught dad. Hope it doesn’t put George off football for life!
This week also saw a very glamorous re-opening of the restaurant Chutney Mary. The famous restaurant used to be in Chelsea at one end of Kings Road. It was our favourite as it had some really memorable cuisine. Namita Panjabi and her sister Camilia, along with Ranjit Mathrani have been managing several excellent restaurants in London. They have now moved Chutney Mary from Chelsea to St. James’ in the heart of London’s clubland. It is a superb location with a large bar and an even larger dining area. Spotted at the occasion were Ranjan Mathai, the Indian high commissioner, Harish and Meenakshi Salve, Isher Ahluwalia, Lord Meghnad Desai, Vindi and Kamini Banga, Keith Vaz, Salman Mahdi from Deutsche Bank as well as Baroness Usha Prashar and her spouse, the very able legal eagle, Vijay Sharma.
London theatre goes on doing amazing things. At the height of the recession, London witnessed demonstrations by a protest movement “Occupy London” which set up tents for a round-the-clock blockade outside St. Paul’s Cathedral. For days on end, life became difficult for churchgoers and even more for the Dean of St. Paul’s and the Bishop of London. There were hard ethical questions as well... should they side with the protesters and let them take over the place or protect the heritage of the great building? Now a new play, Temple by Steve Waters, at the Donmar’s Warehouse in London, is dramatising the events. The location itself is most unusual ,and indeed dramatic: a real warehouse converted into a small theatre three floors up. The stage is just a few feet away, all of it creating a very real atmosphere of the protest movement. It makes one wonder, how likely will it be that someone may dramatise a similar political event in India.
The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has now promised to lead the nation on International Yoga Day. But yoga is getting popular here as well and not just among the desis. There were, at the last count, two-and-a-half million yoga devotees — almost five per cent of the population. Maybe as part of his “getting closer to India” initiative, British Prime Minister David Cameron could sit cross-legged in front of Londoners in Hyde Park, chanting “Om Shanti Om!” And why not?
Kishwar Desai is an award-winning author
